Navrin Turnbull is appointed Principal Dancer at Teatro alla Scala
After last night’s performance of Sleeping Beauty at La Scala, soloist Navrin Turnbull was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer of the company.
Turnbull has been a soloist with La Scala Ballet since 2021, and made his debut as Prince Désiré in Rudolf Nureyev‘s Sleeping Beauty last month, on 17 December 2025.
On stage, in the presence of the whole Company, the CEO and Artistic Director Fortunato Ortombina officially announced the promotion, which was proposed by the Director of the Company, Frédéric Olivieri “as a recognition of his artistic growth which has been highlighted both in the new creations and in the core repertoire of the Company – a commitment and growth further confirmed with his debut in one of the most complex ballets in the repertoire, that of Désiré, full of variations and arduous technical and interpretative mountains to climb, brilliantly tackled alongside the prima ballerina Alice Mariani as Aurora.”
8 January 2026 – Navrin Turnbull promoted to Principal Dancer
Navrin Turnbull was born in Australia, and from 2015 to 2018 he studied at the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart. For the 2018-2019 season, Manuel Legris invited him to join the Vienna State Ballet, where he became Demi Soloist in 2019. In the 2020-2021 season, he joined the Bavarian State Ballet, directed by Igor Zelensky. Since autumn 2021, he has been part of the Corps de Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala.
Navrin Turnbull at La Scala
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
Congratulations to Navrin on his well-deserved promotion. He would make Manuel (Legris) really proud !
Bravo sig. Turnbull. I saw you in Vienna – so promising!